Understand

While Vologda is becoming increasingly popular among Russian local tourists, it is still remaining undeservedly undiscovered by international visitors.

During the Orthodox Christmas and the New Year holidays Vologda acts as the major transit point for crowds going to Veliky Ustyug, Russian Ded Moroz (Farther Frost) residence.

History

Vologda was firstmentioned under year 1147. It was major transit city before St.Petersburg was founded (1703). 1565-1571 Ivan the Terrible proposed Vologda as the new capital of his domain (instead of Moscow).

Get in

By plane

VGD airport provides no regular flights. Airport is situated 8 km north from city centre, easily reachable by bus or taxi.
Nearest international airport is Cherepovets (CEE) (see http://wikitravel.org/en/Cherepovets for details)

By train

By car

Vologda is 470 km to the north by the M8 road from Moscow. It takes 5-7 hours drive to reach the city depending on traffic. Road conditions are generally good for Russia, excluding the total mess with street navigation when passing Yaroslavl. So, using GPS navigator is recommended.